The Latest: Trump will lay out his midterm agenda at the State of the Union

President Donald Trump's State of the Union address tonight at 9 p.m. ET is likely to be a test run of the message Republicans will give to voters in November's elections for control of the House and the Senate.

The president and his party appear vulnerable, with polls showing much of America distrusts how Trump has managed the government in his first year back in office. In addition, the Supreme Court last week struck down one of the chief levers of his economic and foreign policy by ruling he lacked the power to impose many of his sweeping tariffs.

Though Trump is expected to focus on domestic issues, his intensifying threats about launching military strikes on Iran over its nuclear program cast a shadow over the address.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will give the Democratic Party response following Trump's speech. California Sen. Alex Padilla, who made national headlines last year after being forced to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents, will deliver the party's response in Spanish.

The Latest:

Democrats say negotiations over DHS shutdown are stalled as Trump blames them for funding lapse

Democratic leaders say negotiations with the White House over reopening the Department of Homeland Security are at a stalemate as they demand changes to federal immigration enforcement.

He said the White House ''has not budged on the key issues'' like requiring agents to take off masks and obtain warrants before entering homes. Federal agents shot and killed two protesters in Minneapolis last month.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that ''until that changes, the DHS funding bill is not going to move forward.''

''There hasn't been any real, recent communication with the White House,'' Jeffries said.

Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump will call on Democrats to reopen the department in his State of the Union speech and will call the shutdown ''despicable.''

Last week, Leavitt called the latest Democratic proposal ''unserious.'' Neither side has made their proposals public.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said there will be some members who sit in ''silent defiance,'' and others who choose not to attend Trump's speech.

''Some are coming and some are not,'' Senate Democratic Leader Schumer said.

Speaker Mike Johnson had criticized those boycotting, but Jeffries said it's each member's choice based on what makes the most sense for their constituents back home.

Jeffries said the Republicans, in the majority in Congress, are in no position to lecture because rather than operate as a separate and co-equal branch of government, they're a ''reckless rubberstamp'' for Trump's agenda.

Trump to say that tech companies will pay more for electricity linked to AI development

The official said it would be one of many announcements related to the economy.

Data centers tend to use large volumes of electricity, creating a concern that they could lead to higher prices for households at a time when affordability is a leading concern for the electorate. The Wall Street Journal first reported the president's plans to discuss.

—-Joshua Boak

US men's Olympic hockey team members arrive at the White House

Trump invited the team to his State of the Union address after it brought home a gold medal by defeating Canada at the just-concluded Olympics in Italy.

Ukraine ambassador plans to attend State of the Union address

The address comes on the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Olga Stefanishyna, said she expects that Trump, who has made ending the war a priority and whose advisers have been mediating peace negotiations, will touch on the conflict in his address.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained maximalist demands, insisting Kyiv pull its forces from four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed but never fully captured. Trump argues it's inevitable that Russia will win control of the Ukrainian territory and has pressured President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a deal to save lives.

''We do not expect that … everything we heard before will change into something new, and you know we will hear something extremely like positive or you know inspiring,'' Stefanishyna told reporters. ''But at the same time, we want President Trump to hear us ahead of the speech that, you know, despite all the complexity and tragedy of what is happening in Ukraine, still Ukrainian people very much rely on his leadership.''

Some Democrats in Minnesota's congressional delegation are using their privilege of inviting guests to President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech to protest his administration's immigration crackdown.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, of Minneapolis, invited four people impacted by Operation Metro Surge. They include Aliya Rahman, a disabled U.S. citizen who was filmed being pulled from her car by ICE officers on her way to a medical appointment; and Mary Granlund, chair of the Columbia Heights School Board, who championed 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian boy who was detained with his father and sent to a detention center in Texas.

But GOP Rep. Pete Stauber, from northeastern Minnesota, invited two conservative YouTubers — Nick Shirley and David Hoch — whose report alleging fraud at Minnesota child care centers caught Trump's attention and provided an impetus for the surge.

Several Trump lieutenants could be in the spotlight after recent scrutiny

Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel will be worth watching for anyone wanting clues about their standing.

Noem survived a shakeup of Trump's immigration crackdown. But she did not testify during DHS congressional hearings after two citizen protesters were killed in Minneapolis.

Bondi defended the president in a congressional hearing over the Jeffrey Epstein case files but has drawn criticism even from some Republicans for her handling of the matter.

Patel, after taking heat over the Epstein files, as well, is getting renewed attention after traveling to Milan for the Olympics even as he previously critiqued Democratic officials' use of government resources to travel.

Trump notably did not call on either Noem or Bondi during his last Cabinet meeting that featured agency heads praising the president.

Erika Kirk will be among Trump's guests in the House chamber, press secretary says

''The president will call on Congress to ‘firmly reject political violence against our fellow citizens' with Charlie Kirk's widow in the chamber,'' Leavitt posted.

Trump spoke at Kirk's Arizona memorial service, where Erika Kirk said she forgave her husband's assassin ''because it was what Christ did. And is what Charlie would do.''

The president said during the service that he held a different view: ''That's where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don't want the best for them. I'm sorry. I am sorry, Erika.''

Melania Trump's speech guests represent her focus on AI education and foster youth

The White House says the guests who will sit with the first lady in the House gallery during the speech include:

The first lady champions the use of AI and launched the Presidential AI Challenge, a White House-sponsored contest for students.

Foster care advocate Sierra Burns, 24, of Greenville, South Carolina. Burns grew up in foster care and benefited from the first lady's Foster Youth to Independence Program. Last year, Melania Trump secured $30 million in funding to help young people transition out of foster care.

Spanberger to deliver Democratic rebuttal to Trump from Virginia historical site

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver Tuesday night's Democratic response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union from Colonial Williamsburg, invoking the historic backdrop as she frames her message.

Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum with restored 18th-century buildings and interpreters, is seen as the center of Virginia's early opposition to British rule. Spanberger's team says she plans to draw on that legacy and connect it to the country's current political moment.

Democratic women and their guests wearing ‘suffragette white' to confront Trump

The women of the House Democratic Women's Caucus and their guests, including a number of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse, are dressing in all white for the address this evening, modeling themselves after the early 20th-century women who pressed for the right to vote and other rights.

''Tonight, when Donald Trump looks out into the chamber, he will see a wall of white,'' said Democratic Rep. Jill Tokuda of Hawaii.

Some lawmakers are also wearing pins that express support for Epstein survivors and call for the release of case files on Epstein that do not redact information on his associates.

''We are standing here in solidarity so that we are not forgotten,'' said Sharlene Rochard, one of the survivors,

The House speaker said Democrats protest everything, from the president's joint address to the administration's immigration enforcement crackdown.

''It's shameful,'' Johnson said.

He said the Democrats have nothing to offer but their ''TDS agenda'' — what the president's supporters call ''Trump Derangement Syndrome'' by those opposed to the president's policies.

A phone call, a scramble and Men's Olympic hockey team to attend, House speaker says

Johnson says Trump called him Sunday night saying the needed to make changes.

The visitors' gallery was already full, Johnson explained, with waiting lists of those trying to get tickets for seats.

'''Mr. President, how many people are you talking about?'' the speaker asked.

''The whole team,'' he said Trump told him.

Johnson said they've been working out logistics and are going to ''squeeze in'' the gold-medal winning hockey players. ''It'll be a great moment,'' he said.

The gold-medal winning women's Olympic team declined Trump's invitation to attend.

Sen. Alex Padilla will deliver the Democratic Party's Spanish-language response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union on Tuesday night, elevating a California Democrat who made national headlines last year after being forced to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents.

Padilla had confronted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a Los Angeles news conference, attempting to speak out about immigration raids that sparked protests in California and across the country.

The son of Mexican immigrants, Padilla said in a statement that his response will focus on ''a better path — one that lowers costs, safeguards our democracy, and reins in rogue federal agencies.''

The Spanish-language response comes as Democrats try to reclaim ground with Latino voters ahead of the midterms, after Trump increased his share of Latino support in 2024 compared with 2020.

Trump and Wilson speeches have parallels and contrasts

Woodrow Wilson, the president who revived in-person congressional address, addressed lawmakers on tariffs weeks after taking office in 1913. It wasn't his official annual message (that would come months later). But, like Trump, Wilson wanted to mold Congress and public opinion.

Unlike Trump, Wilson wanted income taxes on the wealthiest Americans to lower tariffs imposed through his Republican predecessors – including one of Trump's favorites, William McKinley.

Wilson urged the U.S. to ''build up trade'' while trusting ''the whetting of American wits by contest with the wits of the rest of the world.''

In 1917, Wilson asked Congress in-person to declare war on Germany. Trump is considering military action against Iran and has taken action in Venezuelan — but not sought congressional approval for either.

Trump owes his State of the Union platform to a Democratic predecessor

Adams' successor, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was considered a more comfortable writer than speaker and sought to avoid spectacles that he associated more with monarchy than a democratic republic.

So, to satisfy the Constitution's requirement that the president ''shall from time to time'' apprise Congress on ''the State of the Union,'' the third president wrote to lawmakers instead of addressing them in person.

Thus began a century-plus tradition of written presidential read on Capitol Hill by congressional clerks.

Wilson bucked that tradition, viewing in-person speeches to Congress as a valuable presidential megaphone to shape public opinion and congressional action. Every president since has addressed joint sessions of Congress.

Trump will urge Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security

She said Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel are in the Northeast and working without pay as a result of the shutdown to help authorities restore power to hundreds of thousands of people after the blizzard.

DHS funding lapsed on Jan. 30 as Democrats demanded changes to federal immigration enforcement.

The shutdown is also affecting several agencies within the department, including the Coast Guard, Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration.

The White House and Democrats have been negotiating potential changes to ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies after federal agents fatally shot two protesters in Minnesota.

But the two sides appear to be at a stalemate after the White House rejected the latest offer from Democrats last week.

Democrats are attempting to get ahead of Trump's anticipated celebration of lower crime rates during his State of the Union speech.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the drop is because of initiatives taken at the local level — not the aggressive steps from the White House.

''While mayors would welcome a federal partner who works with them, and not against them, the Trump Administration has done nothing to help,'' Lucas said in a statement. ''In fact, it has actively made our cities less safe.''

Lucas, who leads the Democratic Mayors Association, said the administration has ''recklessly attacked our cities, undermining them at every turn.''

Trump will be face-to-face with the Supreme Court he trashed

He'll almost certainly have them sitting in front of him Tuesday night. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett are regular attendees at the State of the Union.

When reporters asked Trump about his appointees, Gorsuch and Barrett, he declared their tariff votes ''an embarrassment to their families.''

Trump has been similarly personal on the debate stage during campaigns. But he has a history of avoiding conflict with rivals — real and perceived — when they're in the room. He was especially chummy with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office after previously calling him a communist.

President Barack Obama notably criticized the court during a joint address after its Citizen United decision that expanded big money in politics. Roberts shook his head, visibly perturbed by Obama's critique.

House Democratic leader invites Jackson family among SOTU guests

The Brooklyn congressman also invited Vonetta Rougier, a bus operator and a caregiver for her family, from his district. He said she is ''picking up extra shifts just to keep up with the skyrocketing price of housing, food and healthcare.''

He he is also welcoming Marina Lacerda, who is among the Epstein survivors attending as guests of the Democratic Women's Caucus.

Speaker Johnson invites moon-bound astronauts as guests

Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen are preparing for Artemis II, NASA's first crewed mission in more than half a century to venture around the moon.

They will join the House speaker's seats at the speech.

Johnson is co-hosting her visit with Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a longtime champion of the family.

Trump will have guests to highlight his policies

The president will have multiple guests in the House gallery, including some who will make for touching moments, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

''You're going to hear the President share the stories of everyday Americans who have benefited from his policies,'' Leavitt told reporters at the White House. ''You're gunna hear the president share tear-jerking stories of American heroes past and present who really exemplify what it means to be a patriotic American.''

Trump's guests will include a worker who is benefitting from a new tax exemption on tip and overtime income and a woman who is saving money on infertility treatments.

Trump's big speech will be delivered to a Congress he has sidelined

As the lawmakers sit in the House chamber listening to Trump's agenda for the year ahead, the moment is an existential one for the Congress, which has essentially become sidelined by his expansive reach, the Republican president bypassing his slim GOP majority to amass enormous power for himself.

The GOP-led Congress has largely stood by as Trump dramatically seized power through hundreds of executive actions, many being challenged in court, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to impose his agenda.

''It's crazy,'' said Nancy Henderson Korpi, a retiree in northern Minnesota who joined an Indivisible protest group and plans to watch the speech from home. ''But what is disturbing more to me is that Congress has essentially just handed over their power.''

She said, ''We could make some sound decisions and changes if Congress would do their job.''

It wasn't always called the State of the Union

The State of the Union address gets its name directly from the U.S. Constitution.

Article II, which establishes the presidency and its powers and duties, states in part: ''He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.''

But until the World War II years, presidents fulfilled that duty with an ''Annual Message,'' whether in writing (from Thomas Jefferson through William Howard Taft) or in person (George Washington, John Adams and every president from Woodrow Wilson to Trump).

Franklin Roosevelt's Annual Message began being called, colloquially, his ''state of the Union'' message in 1942.

Trump will highlight US military accomplishments as he threatens war against Iran

Leavitt said one of the missions Trump will talk about during the speech is last summer's Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the U.S. bombed several nuclear sites in Iran.

Trump, who says those sites were ''obliterated,'' is again threatening Iran with military action and flooding the region with U.S. military assets if Iran fails to reach an agreement with the U.S. over its nuclear program. Another round of negotiations is set for Thursday in Switzerland.

''You'll hear the president proudly and rightfully say that the United States military is the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world,'' Leavitt said at the White House.

''And you will hear him talk about the threats that remain abroad'' and ''what the United States is doing to ensure that not only America is the safest country in the world, but remains the strongest country in the world.''

''You're going to hear a speech that's a celebration of 250 years of our nation and our nation's independence,'' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House.

Trump will tell stories about ''everyday Americans who have benefited from his policies'' and also share ''tear-jerking stories of American heroes, past and present, who really exemplify what it means to be a patriotic American,'' she said.